Heading off to spend a night away from the kiddos tonight. I know that doesn't sound like it has anything to do with home school, but really, it does. If you are home all day every day with the kids always with you, you need some time away every once in a while. Spend time with your sweetie pie and then you will be a better teacher and mom for your little ones! Tomorrow is my first 8k and it starts at Mt. Si high school, so we are spending a night in North Bend at a bed and breakfast. Sounds relaxing? Yeah.

Spring gardening!

I haven't posted all school year. Shame on me! Here is what we are working on now. Brindy is taking weekly spelling tests. Each Monday she gets six new words to learn. She has to write each word six times each on Monday, use them in sentences on Tuesday, and do an extra spelling activity like type her words on the computer, or write them in shaving cream for her Wednesday spelling work, then she takes an oral pre-test on Thursdays and finally, a written test on Fridays. If she gets them all right, she gets a new book. She is reading the Magic Tree house series, and also a series about fairies. For math she is working on place values, and perfecting counting by twos.
Katy gets a few words to sound out each day and she has to draw a picture of what the word says. Then she has to practice writing her name because she still reverses sometimes.
Brian is working on writing his name and any other letters he wants to take a stab at. He is at a different level as far as small muscle coordination. He also has a harder time sitting still than the girls do. (Which is normal for his age from what I have read)
Natalie is learning to use sentences and sing songs. She knows all the major body parts and many animals and their sounds. Ask her what a pig says sometime. It's really cute!
We always cook something together during the week, and sometimes we have a project or field trip. This year we have tried weaving with yarn, growing crystals, and baking bread. We have gone on trips to the childrens' museum, the zoo and aquarium, the spring fair, and of course the library!!! We have also done some observational art: making pictures of things we see. Brindy made a neat oil pastel drawing of the fish in his tank.
That should pretty much bring us up to date except for one thing: The GARDEN!!!
For Easter the kids got Veggie Tales seed packets. They planted their seeds today. We have cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, peas, pumpkins, and a zucchini! I can't make my new camera work in my computer so I can't post pics until Brandon loads them into his computer. We are having so much fun learning from daily life and nature and being together as a family!